Mechanics of replacement

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog has a useful post up about the procedure for filling the job of King County prosecutor, which has been held for nearly three decades by Norm Maleng, who died Thursday.

Key points: The decision will be made by the King County Council, which is majority Democratic (barely). The appointee must, however, be a Republican. And the seat will be up for election this fall, meaning that candidacies (of the incumbent and others) will have to materialize almost immediately: “Because the primary election now is a month earlier than it has been in the past – on Aug. 21 this year – the five-day candidate filing period opens a week from Monday, nearly two months earlier than in past years.”

That humming sound you hear is the intense burning of phone lines and waves across King County . . .